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tropics are hot and humid, which allows disease organisms to multiply swiftly, so that they can easily contaminate food and water supplies” (Wills 272). When tourists wander into the wilderness, the possibility of entering the habitat of a conceivably dangerous disease increases. All a pathogen needs is to get a ride on a sightseer’s shoe to start a worldwide epidemic (Platt *). Outbreaks occur because of one obvious factor. The host organism unknowingly spreads an invisible killer that nobody knows anything about, including the area in which it will surface in (Platt *). Since epidemics and their severity appear hard to predict, the world will not realize the harm caused by transportation until it is too late. Although epidemiologists and microbiologists have conquered many viruses, there is still a handful of extremely fatal diseases looming in the horizon. Roughly 150 deadly viruses exist. In addition, 1,000 more just as lethal await discovery (Platt *). The Ebola virus poses one of the biggest threats in today’s society. It kills in roughly 10 days. At the heightof the illness the patient is begins to bleed from various places including the eyes and nose. Once the patient starts to hemorrhage, death is sure to follow (Rollin *). A disease like this would surely eradicate a vast majority of people if it were interjected into society. In fact, the Ebola virus is responsible for two deadly outbreaks, one in Yambuku, Zaire, and one in Kikwit, Zaire (Rollin *). If a disease such as Ebola were to surface in a large city, the world could be subject to an inextricable outbreak from which recovery would be minimal. Many more dangerous diseases are starting to emerge due to transportation. Dengue fever, which is contracted through the Asian tiger mosquito, is responsible for nearly 23,000 deaths every year (Bright *). The nefarious influenza virus caused one of the most severe outbreaks ever. In 1918, 21 million people perished in a few months (Armelagos *). Today, an influenza virus of that magnitude would kill many more millions than it did in 1918. Dr. Moshe Ipp states that, “If China is considered to be the likely source of the next [influenza] pandemic, the relaxation of trade and tourism in that country would surely spread the virus to other countries more quickly than in the past. Furthermore, the vastly increased air passenger services between countries must mean that the virus will spread around the globe more quickly than before” (*). It is just a question of when this will occur. Two additional infectious diseases, cholera and malaria, are slowly gaining momentum in the human populace. In 1991, ballast water from an Asian ship released cholera into Peru, which in turn killed 10,000 people (Bright *). Malaria is also flourishing. In Africa and Asia, the latter has infected a great number of people (Crossette *). The threat of emerging diseases will increase with every stride in transportation. When the next outbreak occurs, the disease will be able to spread so rapidly that the human race will be vulnerable and unprepared to handle it. Although society employs many safeguards when traveling to other countries, continually increasing travel poses a major threat to the health and future welfare of the world. Major sources of transit, such as airplanes and ships, are transporting diseases from one part of the globe to another. The contributing factor for the increase of diseases can be blamed on people’s ignorance and the increase of trade and transportation in society. The threat of microbes in today’s populace is constantly increasing. Infectious diseases, previously thought to have been conquered, are now surfacing in all parts of the globe, and could in the foreseeable future wreak havoc upon the world.

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